Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22430531›Full record

ArticleJournal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD2012

High Blood caffeine levels in MCI linked to lack of progression to dementia.

Chuanhai Cao, David A Loewenstein, Xiaoyang Lin, Chi Zhang, Li Wang, Ranjan Duara, Yougui Wu, Alessandra Giannini, Ge Bai, Jianfeng Cai and 6 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
56citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
13.0field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

56 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 133 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Article
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  6. Sleep as the Foundation of Brain Health.Seminars in neurology · 2025
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  7. Review
  8. Observational
  9. Review
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  11. Review
  12. Harnessing Transfer Learning for Dementia Prediction: Leveraging Sex-Different Mild Cognitive Impairment Prognosis.Proceedings. IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine · 2023
    Article
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Chuanhai CaoDepartment of Pharmaceutical Science, University of South Florida College of Pharmacy, Tampa, FL 33620, USA. ccao@health.usf.edu
David A Loewenstein
Xiaoyang Lin
Chi Zhang
Li Wang
Ranjan Duara
Yougui Wu
Alessandra Giannini
Ge Bai
Jianfeng Cai
Maria Greig
Elizabeth Schofield
Raj Ashok
Brent Small
Huntington Potter
Gary W Arendash
University of South Florida · USUSF Health Byrd Alzheimer's Institute · USMount Sinai Medical Center · USUniversity of Miami · US

Funding

PREDICTORS OF THE RATE OF COGNITIVE DECLINE IN ELDERLY SUBJECTSP50AG025711 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA · PI POTTER, HUNTINGTON · 2005 to 2010
$8.2M
Semantic Interference and Early Detection of DementiaR01AG020094 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · PI LOEWENSTEIN, DAVID · 2003 to 2007
$2.0M
Abnormal Low Density Lipoprotein Receptor Localization and Function in ADR01AG037942 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA · PI POTTER, HUNTINGTON · 2011 to 2015
$1.5M
NIA NIH HHS 1P50AG025711-03NIA NIH HHS 5R01AG020094-03NIA NIH HHS P50 AG025711NIA NIH HHS R01 AG020094NIA NIH HHS R01 AG037942
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Although both human epidemiologic and animal model studies have suggested that caffeine/coffee protects against Alzheimer's disease, direct human evidence for this premise has been lacking. In the present case-control study, two separate cohorts consisting of 124 total individuals (65-88 years old) were cognitively assessed and a blood sample taken for caffeine/biomarker analysis. Subjects were then monitored for cognitive status over the ensuing 2-4 year period to determine the extent to which initial plasma caffeine/biomarkers levels would be predictive of changes in cognitive status. Plasma caffeine levels at study onset were substantially lower (-51%) in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) subjects who later progressed to dementia (MCI→DEM) compared to levels in stable MCI subjects (MCI→MCI). Moreover, none of the MCI→DEM subjects had initial blood caffeine levels that were above a critical level of 1200 ng/ml, while half of stable MCI→MCI subjects had blood caffeine levels higher than that critical level. Thus, plasma caffeine levels greater than 1200 ng/ml (≈6 μM) in MCI subjects were associated with no conversion to dementia during the ensuing 2-4 year follow-up period. Among the 11 cytokines measured in plasma, three of them (GCSF, IL-10, and IL-6) were decreased in MCI→DEM subjects, but not in stable MCI→MCI subjects with high plasma caffeine levels. Coffee would appear to be the major or perhaps only source of caffeine for such stable MCI patients. This case-control study provides the first direct evidence that caffeine/coffee intake is associated with a reduced risk of dementia or delayed onset, particularly for those who already have MCI.

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overAlzheimer DiseaseCaffeineCase-Control StudiesCognitionCognitive DysfunctionDementiaDisease ProgressionFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleNeuropsychological TestsRisk FactorsCaffeine

Identifiers

PMID22430531
PMCPMC5592113
OpenAlexW2111549050

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.